


A Discussion About Simple Machines AKA The Shovel Talk

by valantha



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Jossed, Shovel Talk, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 16:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1272697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valantha/pseuds/valantha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma Simmons and Agent Triplett are about to go on their first date. As Skye helps Jemma primp, Fitz and Ward give Agent Triplett their own versions of The Shovel Talk. <br/>Spoilers through 1X14</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Discussion About Simple Machines AKA The Shovel Talk

Jemma adjusted her borrowed blouse. Skye said the maroon brought out her eyes, but then she also added eye shadow and mascara – to bring out her eyes – so there were too many confounding variables to precisely test the hypothesis.

What discomfited Jemma was how low-cut and frilly the blouse was. The blouse wasn’t her. She was simple, classic, and some might say elegant. This blouse wasn’t. This blouse was Skye – hip, cool, rebellious.

Jemma shook her head at herself. The blouse was just a blouse, and this was just a first date. Nothing to get too worked up about, it wasn’t like she was going undercover or anything.

Jemma had met Antoine after Quinn shot Skye and while 110% of her energy was focused on keeping Skye stable while the others were retrieving GH325 from the Guest House, 5% of her mind was on the symmetrical and firm Specialist who was regarding her admiringly and appraisingly.

It was unusual for her to garner such attention. She was aware that she was fairly symmetrical herself, but apparently she was ‘intimidating’ or some such rubbish. She’s had ‘suitors’ – as Fitz would call them – especially after the Academy, but none of them had given her such looks of admiration. The singular experience was actually quite flattering. She knew a large part of the admiration was for her determination and skill keeping Skye stable and not simply her external appearance, and she’d found his empathy and understanding about her illogical relationship with Skye quite… comforting, so she’d given him her number when he asked for it on his way off the Bus and on to the Fridge with Quinn.

They’d video-chatted a few times since, and since both teams happened to be stopping through the Triskelion at the same time, they’d decided to go to dinner. Admittedly, the Triskelion mess wasn’t the most romantic of locales, and going off base wasn’t exactly an appealing alternative since it was in Iran, but it was a first date and Jemma was excited and nervous. They’d already discussed a lot of first-datey topics via video-chat, but now they’d actually be in the same room giving each other their complete attention. What if it was a flop?

“Come on now. You look marvelous, and you’ve given the boys enough time to scare The Trip straight. It’s time for you two to get this show on the road,” Skye interrupted her thoughts.

“You think Fitz is glaring at Antoine?” Jemma asked, familiar with the general concept of suitor-intimidation, but lacking practical experience. She’d never dated whilst living at home, so her father had never done _that_ , and she didn’t think Fitz had done it before, either.

Skye chuckled, “Fitz and Ward most def. maybe even A.C. and May.”

Jemma gulped and after one more quick look in the mirror she hurried out of Skye’s bunk to rescue Antoine from her teammates.

* * *

Triplett was standing in the cargo bay, leaning against the SHIELD van feigning a calmness he didn’t possess when the dorky Scottish Engineer left his lab.

Fitz walked over to the Specialist, eyeing him, judging him.

“I just want you to know that Jemma has been my partner for 7 years. She is my best friend, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Fitz began.

“Look man, I’m not here to infringe on your turf…” Triplett began.

“No, ‘man,’” Fitz interrupted in a clipped tone, “Simmons isn’t my ‘turf’, she’s my best friend. She’s amazing and smart and brave…”

“And here is where you tell me that if I hurt her you are going to come after me with your robot minions?” Agent Triplett interrupted in turn.

“No. She’s my best friend, not my ward. Here is where I tell you that if you hurt her, I will be beside her, watching The Princess Bride for the 86th time, comforting her. That if _she_ decides to start working on a genome-specific hemorrhagic fever, then I will be beside her for that too,” Fitz glared meaningfully.

“What if things do work out between us?” Triplett asked.

“Then I will be beside her then as well, as her Best Man or Man of Honor. I want her to be happy. But I want you to know that I will always be beside her,” Fitz said, pausing, eyeing Triplett.

“Also, I want you to know, if you die on some mission, I will be beside her, trying to keep her stable as she tries to work the grief out of her system,” And with that morbid statement on non-standard ways Triplett could hurt Jemma, Fitz retreated to his lab.

He paused at the sliding doors reiterating, “I will always be beside her.”

* * *

Triplett had recommenced leaning against the SHIELD van, dwelling over Fitz’s various bombshells when Agent Ward appeared beside him. Triplett hadn’t heard him approach, and chided himself for letting his guard down.

“He’s a good man,” Ward said, gesturing at the lab with his chin.

Triplett nodded, “I’m sure he is.”

“He’s a better man than me,” Ward continued, “If you hurt our Jemma, I _will_ shatter your kneecaps and leave you stuck behind a desk for the rest of your days.”

And with that, Ward left, walking up the stairs, pausing briefly to glare down on Triplett.

All of this chest-beating only intrigued Triplett more. He wanted to get to know the woman who inspired such sentiments.

After a minute or two of silent contemplation, Triplett heard the clatter of heels and looked up to see Jemma burst through the door at the top of the stairs and clatter down the staircase.

He grinned. She looked lovely.

She smiled. He looked dashing.

“The boys weren’t too hard on you were they?” Jemma asked with a bit of a blush once she reached the floor of the cargo bay.

“Just hard enough,” Triplett replied with a hint of a cocky grin as he gestured for her to precede him through the open cargo bay doors.


End file.
